E-Paper
Kolhapur village receiving relief in final phase await survey completion
The armed force officials had also experienced difficulty in making inroads to these villages as the flood water current was high.
The villagers of Shirati village in Shirol taluka of Kolhapur were one of the last ones to get relief and be rescued by the armed forces last week after floods hit the region.
Shirati, is one among the four villages which is surrounded by the Krishna river from three directions. In close proximity to Karnataka, the three other villages are Kunwad, Kutwad and Ghalwad.
The armed force officials had also experienced difficulty in making inroads to these villages as the flood water current was high.
Santosh Koli, 35, is one among the many dwellers of the village whose house was destroyed in the floods.
“When the 2005 floods happened, the water was only until here (points to his waist). But this time, our entire house was underwater. Now that the water is gone, only the debris remains,” said Koli who lives with his wife, two children and father. However, his family is with staying with relatives in Patan while he is living in the village school with other villagers; all awaiting the district administration to perform the punchnama (survey).
Koli works as a centring labourer on nearby construction sites. His was among three houses, in a line of five, that have fallen after the floods. Like Koli, various others with similar professions, have lost their houses completely to the floods.
Deepak Kushappa Kamble, 55, a daily wage farm labourer, is thankful for the school space which is serving as a home for his family of eight. With two brick wall houses joined together, Kamble and his younger brother live there with their wives and two children.
“We did not have things like refrigerator, television etc., but we had our lives, our clothes, utensils, equipment, in there,” said Kamble.
As one enters the village along the road, that has itself barely survived the flood, one can see patches of farms, electricity polls, and sheds filled with flood water.
“Water is going down, but only a couple of feet everyday at the maximum. We will wait till the survey (punchnama) is done and then try to put our lives back together,” said Koli.
The village of Shirati and the three others fall under Shirol taluka of Kolhapur district. The district has witnessed 10 out of the 54 deaths recorded in Maharashtra during the floods.
